A color space is a mathematical representation of a set of colors. Various color spaces are known in the art and are tailored for specific uses. The Red, Green, and Blue color spaces (RGB or R′G′B′, which is gamma corrected RGB), are used in computer graphics. Luma, Chroma based color spaces (e.g., YIQ, YUV and YCrCb) are used in video systems. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (CMYK) are used in color printing. These color spaces are directly related to the intuitive notions of hue, saturation and brightness. All color spaces can be derived from the RGB information supplied by devices such as cameras and scanners. Different color spaces have historically evolved for different applications. In each case, a color space was chosen for application specific reasons.
The convergence of computers, the Internet and a wide variety of video devices, all using different color representations, may require designers of digital logic the operates upon image data to convert between the various color spaces. For example, it may be desirable to have all inputs converted to a common color space before image processing algorithms and processes are executed. Accordingly, color space conversion logic may be implemented for a number of products designed for use in image and video processing.